


Stranger in the Night

by thereforebucket



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, also some fluff at the end, annnnnngst, based on the talk with Raven aaaaaaand also a weissrabbit pic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-10
Packaged: 2018-04-14 00:51:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4543857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereforebucket/pseuds/thereforebucket
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Yang," Blake said, reaching out, but Yang cut her off.</p><p>"I don't need her. I've never needed her and I can see that now. I didn't need her when Mom died, I didn't need her when Dad shut down, and I don't need her now! She can't teach me a damn thing!" She stopped in front of Blake, her head down.</p><p>"Oh god," she said quietly, "why doesn't she want me?"<br/>-----<br/>Yang wakes up in a rage after meeting Raven in a dream and wakes up the team. Blake waits up for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stranger in the Night

Yang gasped and sat up in bed. She looked around wild-eyed for a moment, getting her bearings, before growling and tossing her blankets off her legs and jumping to the floor. The other three girls stirred and blinked as Yang stomped to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Yang?" Ruby scrambled down from her bed to stand tentatively in front of the bathroom door.

"Not now, Ruby," was the call back. Yang's voice sounded like she was trying to keep it together and the three all felt the pang in their heart. Yang was always able to carry the team emotionally, always able to keep it together. What had happened to make her so upset?

"Yang, please talk to me!" Ruby pleaded. "I can help!"

"Rubes, please," Yang said, and if anyone had had a doubt that there were tears in her voice before, they had no doubts now, "just leave me alone for a while, ok?"

Ruby bit her lip. "Ok..."

Ruby moved to sit down on Weiss' bed and they heard the shower come on. They all looked at each other.

"What do you think happened?" Blake asked, sitting up. She looked at the door, as if if she tried hard enough Yang would open it and tell them everything.

"I don't know." Ruby sounded worried and scared, curling up with her knees under her chin. "Do you think she's ok?"

Weiss sat up and reached out an arm, wrapping it around her partner and moving closer. She rubbed her back and said "Maybe, maybe not, but it sounds like she just needs time to process...whatever it was--before she we know anything else." Ruby nodded and leaned her head on Weiss' shoulder. Her eyes started to close at the rhythmic movements of Weiss' hand on her shoulder, though she did her best to stay awake.

Blake watched Ruby for a moment before saying "Hey Ruby, how about we get some sleep? We can talk to Yang in the morning and she'll probably just worry if we all wait up for her."

Ruby shook her head sleepily. "Can't. Yang's always...there for me when...I'm upset..."

Weiss caught Blake's eye and the two shared a look. "Hey Ruby," she said, shaking her partner's shoulder a little, "how about we sit up against the headboard, ok? We can wait up for Yang and won't be sitting in such an uncomfortable position."

Ruby nodded. "This is why you're smart, Weiss," she mumbled, eyes still closed, and the two shuffled until they were sitting against the headboard. A moment later, Ruby was out like a light.

Weiss pulled the blanket up around them. "The dolt doesn't know how to take care of herself," she snorted to Blake, rolling her eyes fondly.

Blake nodded, swinging her legs over the side and standing up. "Yang will talk to her about it eventually."

"Of course." Weiss yawned. "So I guess you have no intention of going back to sleep," she said to Blake, who was standing in the middle of the floor, ears trained on the bathroom door.

"Nope," said Blake. Her ear twitched, as if trying to pinpoint a sound.

"Well," said Weiss, making herself comfortable, "I do." She looked up at Blake one last time. "Blake, don't burn yourself out again."

Blake shot her a glance. Her lips quirked up. "I'll try not to." Weiss nodded and closed her eyes and her breathing soon evened out.

Blake walked up to the desk next to the bathroom and pulled out the chair. She sat down and waited. The water shut off about fifteen minutes later and Yang was out five minutes after that. She rubbed at her face with her hand and started to stumble off to bed.

"Yang," Blake said. Yang made a strangled yelling noise and jumped about a foot in the air. She landed facing Blake and grabbed her chest as she caught her breath. Ruby and Weiss barely stirred.

"Don't do that!" she hissed.

"Sorry," said Blake quietly, only a little sincerely.

Yang rubbed her face again. "What are you doing up?" she asked in the same hushed voice.

"Waiting for you."

Yang sighed. "Blake, go back to bed." Blake shook her head.

"Nope. There's something bothering you and I want to help."

"Blake," Yang whined, but Blake cut her off.

"You told me that I could trust you, could trust the team, and then you stomp off in the middle of the night and expect us all to forget about it and go back to sleep?" She glanced behind Yang. "Well, the other two not withstanding. It's been a long day."

Yang turned around to see Weiss and Ruby asleep next to each other. She turned back around, amused. "Weiss agreed to that?"

"Weiss got Ruby back to sleep," Blake replied. "She wanted to wait up for you but we've all been through a lot today and Weiss figured that if they sat there under the pretext of waiting for you she would end up going back to sleep."

Yang grinned. "I bet she had a little quip for it and everything."

Blake smiled back. "Yeah, 'The dolt doesn't know how to take care of herself.'"

Yang rolled her eyes, then sighed fondly. "Well," she said after a beat, "we should probably follow Ruby's lead. She is our leader after all."

"Not a chance," Blake said, serious again. "You still haven't told me what's wrong."

Yang scowled and glanced back at Ruby and Weiss. "Fine," she sighed, "but somewhere else. I don't want to wake them up."

"Fine by me," said Blake, standing up.

Yang went to slip on a pair of shoes, waited for Blake to follow suit, and then opened the hall door. They took a right and walked down the hall a ways, taking another right when they hit an intersection. Soon, they found themselves at a little alcove with a balcony and they opened the french windows, stepping out into the night. Yang walked to one side and leaned up against the railing, looking out at the courtyard. Blake leaned up against the other side of the railing.

"So," prompted Blake, folding her arms.

Yang was silent for a moment, looking up at the moon, and then sighed. "When I was on the train, I fought a woman, the same woman who saved Torchwick in the city that time with the illusion of herself, and Blake, she's good. But that's not the point. The point is that she knocked me out and when I woke up, I saw another woman, all dressed in red, walk through a portal and vanish. I don't know what happened, but the umbrella woman was all set to kill me and the next thing I know she's gone and this red woman is leaving." She paused and Blake took a deep breath, letting her heart calm down after hearing that Yang was almost...

Blake shuddered.

"Hey," Yang said concernedly, "what's up?"

"Nothing," Blake shook her head, looking at the ground. "I just don't want any of us to die." She glanced up at Yang and Yang could see the insecurity in her face. "Especially not you."

Yang felt her heart drop and swell at the same time. She pushed herself off the railing and crossed the balcony. "Hey," she said, stopping in front of Blake, "it's ok." She reached out a hand and placed it on Blake's shoulder. Blake squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm ok, I'm here. The umbrella woman wasn't able to give me anything more than a few bruises and a bit of a headache, ok?" She smiled and gingerly touched the back of her head where the bruises were still fresh. Blake nodded before taking a deep breath and standing up. She brushed Yang's hand off her shoulder and sent her a thankful smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Yang answered, leaning on the balcony next to her. Her smile faded after a second.

"Is that why you woke up tonight?" Blake asked.

Yang shook her head. "That woman, the red one, her name is Raven Branwen and...well she came to me in a dream." She turned quickly to Blake. "I promise you I'm not making this up!" she said. "She came to me and said we had a lot to talk about." She searched Blake's face, finding no disbelief.

Blake just nodded, encouraging her to continue. "I believe you," she said.

Yang nodded back, shutting her eyes to steel herself for the next part. She turned her head and opened them. "Blake," she said, "she told me she was my mother." She looked so lost that Blake reached out to touch her shoulder. Yang shot a thankful half-smile back to her before continuing. "It took me a minute to get it, that my mother, who I've been searching for all my life, came to _me_ , and at first, I was happy. I was really happy. My search was finally over, you know?" She started to laugh with her words, a harsh, false sound that made Blake's heart twinge. "But then I realized, I'm not exactly an 'under-the-radar' kinda girl. I'm here, there, everywhere, and it would have been _easy_ to track me down, you know? And if she has portals and dream communication, why hasn't she contacted me before now?" She was shaking now, with rage, it seemed, and Blake tightened her grip on her shoulder. "But then I cooled off. I know, ironic. I cooled off." She let out a bark of laughter. "Maybe she was just busy, I thought. Maybe, it's possible that she was kept prisoner or something, that she was just unable to get out at all. But then she tells me that for the past _seventeen years_ , my _entire life_ , she's been on this _mission_ , trying to stop some evil or another, the whole time, all could think was that she had stepped out of my life without so much as a note, without so much as a call, with no intention of ever even letting me know she was ok, and now she comes back and expects me to understand? She told me that she saw my picture in the paper once. Dad got featured in a story about Beacon alumni and there was a picture of him, Summer, Ruby, and me. And she's apparently seen other things too, like a video of the Signal class tournament I was in. So it wasn't like she didn't keep tabs on me! I'm just... Why now? I've been searching for _her_ my whole life and now, when she decides it's _convenient_ , she decides to pay me a visit?"

Yang slammed her fist down on the railing and pushed off with a growl. She paced back and forth in the small space, running her hands through her hair. Blake watched her, unsure of what to do.

"But you know what?" Yang continued. "It's ok. It's fine. She left me with my dad and it's _ok_. I got the best thing in my life out of that little action, I got _Ruby_ because she left me. Leaving was the best thing she could have done!" she laughed and it sounded like a wounded animal. "And, she's taught me to be determined, not to give up. Oh wait, no she didn't! _She didn't teach me a damn thing!_ That was _Summer_ who taught me those things, that was _Mom!_ "

"Yang," Blake said, reaching out, but Yang cut her off.

"I don't need her. I've _never_ needed her and I can see that now. I didn't need her when Mom died, I didn't need her when Dad shut down, and I don't need her now! She can't teach me a _damn fucking thing!_ " She stopped in front of Blake, her head down.

"Oh god," she said quietly, "why doesn't she want me?"

Blake rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her. She felt tears on her shoulder as Yang hugged back and she rubbed her back. "Shhh," she soothed, "shhh..." Blake felt like her heart was going to break, seeing Yang break down. Was this what she felt all the time? Did her heart break when she comforted them too? She folded Yang further into her embrace and kept rubbing her back, making soothing noises. Yang just squeezed tighter, gripping the back of her pajamas, and sobbed.

Blake wouldn't pretend that she was in her element when she was comforting people, but she knew that Yang needed someone just then and pushed through it to help her.

They stood there for a long time, just the two of them, until Yang finally sniffed and pulled back. She lifted up the hem of her shirt and wiped her face. "Oh god," she said, looking at Blake's wet shoulder. "I've made a mess, haven't I."

Blake glanced at her shoulder and shrugged. "It's no big deal, it'll wash off." She looked back at Yang. "Are you ok now?"

Yang thought for a minute. "No," she said truthfully, "but I'm better than I was." She took Blake's hands in her own. "Thank you, Blake."

Blake shrugged again, awkwardly. She felt a little flustered with the intimacy. "It's nothing," she mumbled. "You would have done the same for me."

Yang nodded. "Well, thank you anyway." She leaned in and kissed Blake's cheek. "You definitely helped." Blake blushed.

"Well," Yang yawned, dropping Blake's hands and raising her arms high in the air, "it's late." She stretched and cracked her neck. "Let's get some sleep." She smiled and extended her arm, but Blake saw the cracks in her red eyes, saw that she was once again putting on a brave face. Blake reached through her arm and trailed her fingers down it to tangle with Yang's own.

"Come on," she said sleepily. She tugged Yang forward while keeping their arms brushing. Yang remained rooted to the spot for a moment, a blush creeping up to her ears, before smiling slightly and following Blake.

"Hold on a second," she said as they left the balcony. She let go of Blake's hand and shut the french windows before offering her hand again. Blake took it and they fell into step with each other, Yang resting her head on Blake's shoulder.

The walk was warm and comfortably quiet. Blake could sense that Yang was still sad and Yang could sense that Blake was still a little tense, but the two put those things aside for the moment to just walk. As friends. As something more.

When they got back to the room, they walked to the bathroom, Yang to splash water on her face, Blake to splash water on her shoulder, and then the two of them returned to their beds. Yang flopped down on her stomach and reached her arm over the side.

"Hey Blake?" she said in a small voice, wiggling her fingers. "Keep the nightmares away?"

Blake smiled and reached her hand up to grasp Yang's own, and like that they fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you could leave a comment, I would really appreciate it! :)
> 
> This fic was based on the meeting with Raven Branwen after the credits at the end of S2, a weissrabbit picture (the last one in the set http://weissrabbit.tumblr.com/post/96695437501/will-i-ever-tire-of-the-bees-nah-son-last-pic), and this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmerFuzRNZ4#t).


End file.
